Oh my, what possessed you to buy that suit in the first place? Would love to get a picure of you wearing it for my "engineeing fashion through the ages" (you qualify as a member of this community!). I see lots of that type of stuff at our local Goodwill store - is that where your's ended up?

@Duane: The boss was called last to finally confirm that I was, in fact, not bright enough to understand entry level calendar operation. I didn't get the job.

The thing is that this can happen to anyone (although once is enough). I actually ended up getting the job -- they said that I carried the interview off with "great aplomb" considering the circumstances -- from my perspective I'd already burnt up all of my adrenalin and I was just floating along willing to let the universe have its way with me :-)

My father-in-law introduced me to this portable jump-starter thing (you can get them from Lowes or Home Depot for ~$60 for a basic one to ~$100 for a posh one. This is like a battery with cables (and other stuff) that you can use to jump-start yourself.

Mine also has a regular power outlet and a USB charger outlet -- buth of which would be useful in a crisis -- plus it contains a small compressor so you can easily pump up a flat tire (very useful to get to the "fix-a-tire" place).

I flew from Zimbabwe to Australia once for a job interview. There was only one flight a week so I had to be there for almost a week. So apart from the actual interview I went out with the guys who worked there on a few jobs, and the boss of the section took me out to a couple of sites to (a) show me their equipment and way of working and (b) probe my knowledge of the sort of gear they were using.

All went well until he took me to a radio site 15 KM outside a main town. He gave me the keys to unlock the gate, and I unlocked the door to the equipment room. We went inside, went through the equipment, then went outside again. Which is when I realised that I had left the keys on the desk in the radio room, and the door had locked itself as we went out.....

We had to drive back into the town (where fortunately someone had another key), drive back up, retrieve his keys, drive back to the town, return the borrowed keys.....I thought I had stuffed that one up good and proper.

I got the job, so I must have had something going for me AND the boss must have had some sense of humour (or pity...). And it turned out to be a nice job, and I'm still in it.

If this sounds familiar to some readers it's because I had a longer version published some time ago in these pages here....

Sounds like Max had to endure a lot of anxiety, stress and hassle. But in the end, I assume he showed up the next day for the interview at the correct time. So all's well that ends well. And you can consider the ordeal you went through the day before to be a practice run. Right?

Ok, this is too much fun. Although I am not an engineer, I have my own humiliating interview experience to relate. Fresh out of college with an English degree, I was applying for a job as a printing supply sales rep for A.B Dick (imagine that company name on your business card). I wore a brand-new brown plaid suit circa late-1970s (a friend later quipped that he didn't realize Ralston-Purina also made suits). The weather was monsoonal, pouring buckets as it occasionally does in Austin, Texas. I hydroplaned all the way to the interview site, parked my car, dashed through the parking lot (a lake), and slipped and fell into a pool in front of the entrance. I endured the interview soaking wet in my plaid suit, and amazingly was offered the job. Didn't take it, though, and ended up on a circuitous path that eventually led me to high-tech PR.